**3.2 Terminology**

For the readers it may be interesting to be familiarized a little about terminology of some animal fibers. General fiber's name, species, and scientific name of some important animals in the world of "animal fibers" are:

**89**

**Figure 7.**

*New Look on an Ancient Fiber of Cashmere DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89814*

been transformed into precious shawls.

**3.3 Cashmere products**

has a lot of design and color.

**3.4 Structure of hair and cashmere fibers**

• Mohair: From Angora goats: *Capra hircus aegagrus*

• Angora: From Angora rabbits: (*Oryctolagus cuniculus*)

Central Asian countries are potential future suppliers of cashmere.

• Cashgora: a crossbreed of cashmere and Angora (Mohair) goats

Cashmere is a delicate fiber of certain goats that are bred in high and cold regions of the world. The term of cashmere was named as it taken from countries of China, Iran, and Afghanistan to the Kashmir region. In Kashmir, these fibers has

In the past few years, the cashmere industry has attracted the attention of the textile industry, which is referred to as "the renaissance of cashmere." The reasons for this reminiscent of cashmere are the interest of individuals and designers of natural fibers; global markets including China; the contribution to sustainable development and the global fight against poverty. According to some researchers,

Cashmere is used in luxury textiles of niche markets, including shawls, coats, cushions, blankets, runners, sweaters, t-shirts, scarves, shawls, and so on (see **Figures 7–9**). A wide range of high-quality and expensive products are produced from cashmere. Cashmere's clothing is generally light and at the same time keeps the human body warm. Designers of clothing use this fiber as a good material that

The staple of cashmere goat is made up of two parts of the outer coat (hair) and inner coat (cashmere). The hair is thicker and longer and has a medulla channel in the center of the fiber, protecting the animal against physical damages, while cashmere protects the animal from the cold. The cashmere fibers are similar to true wool, which is like a cylinder full of keratin. Three types of medulla have been recognized in hair: Continuous, no breaks in the medulla; interrupted, few short breaks; and fragmented, few parts of medulla visible. Characteristics of these three types of hair in mixed final products of hair should be studied. For more information see *Silk, Mohair, Cashmere and Other Luxury Fibers* edited by Franck [5].

*Istanbul Cashmere Bazaar – Price of each Shwal is nearly 300–500 US \$ - 2014 - Photo by seyed abbas rafat.*

